The writing process is one that many students struggle with, but I always found it to be a fundamental route of who I am. Writing is just another way of expressing yourself, learning about who you are and what you can be.

Sitting down at my computer at the beginning of August, I began to write fanfiction. A single plot string, two romantic interests, and a semi-developed character was what I had to work with.

I don’t know how to type so I use my pointer fingers and my left thumb.

Putting on some good music and grabbing some crackers, I’m able to find peace in the writing process itself. Blinds closed, google document open, and only my mind to distract me, that is what my quarantine days look like.

I thought about my characters during my free time spent away from writing. They were who I thought of right before going to sleep.

Quarantine allowed me to spend more time with myself, just as it had done for everyone else. I could no longer go out to the mall, so I spent my social time with fictional characters I conjured up in my head one day.

That time spent with myself and my computer helped me work on myself through my characters. They weren’t just being developed with eye-catching scenes, they were explorations into the inner workings of my mind.

Characters have so many angles. We have our favorite protagonists, the oddly attractive villains, and side characters that are wiser than the main character. Kill the wrong one and it all falls apart.

As soon as I started my work, I posted my finished product – unedited – on a book sharing site called Wattpad under a false name. I had been reading on the site for years, so publishing my work there felt natural.

A characters, cast, and quotes page and a prologue down, my first book amassed a following quickly. My book was out for two weeks when it hit 15,000 views, an accomplishment I never thought I could reach. 

Before long my book ideas multiplied, leaving me with many books to work on. When I wasn’t searching the web for things that would make me look like a serial killer, I wrote my little tales, getting a response from readers.

Not being able to see anyone outside of my household would have been unbearable if it weren’t for my stories.

While my books are still unedited and are likely filled with a multitude of spelling and grammatical errors, they have become a part of my life that I’m proud of and am willing to share with people.

Andromeda is one of many original characters that I have placed in my fanfiction “…”

“Named under the stars to which she was found under, the pint-sized preppy princess of the Volturi had a hell of a childhood, spoiled to death by her adoptive parents who cherished every last moment with her. Her life was positively divine, barring the numerous in-house pediatric visits brought on by an ever-failing heart deficiency. It was the only thing her life lacked: a steady, properly beating heart.”

Quick to defend her family with a sense of humor as black as obsidian, she quickly became a favorite in my fanbase.

As hard as it is to not see people in real life, I’ve managed to entrap myself in a world where the only limits are my imagination.